Knitting needle



p 8, 1937. E. w. BURNHAM KNITTING NEEDLE Filed Sept. 18, 1936 INVENTOR.

' 0 m ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE xm'r'rme NEEDLE Ethel W. Burnham, Sierra Madre. Calif. Application September 18, 1936, Serial No. 101,446

4 Claims.

This invention relates to hand knitting appliances and particularly to knitting needles.

"An object of the invention is to provide a knitting needle with detachable and interchangeable knitting points or tips of various shapes and/or sizes, of such construction as to permit easy and rapid changing of 'tips while at the same time positively locking the points against accidental.

removal.

of the type described which is simple and is inexpensive to manufacture.

Still another object of the invention is to make I it possible to guard or shield the tips of a'coop- 1'5 'erating pair of knitting needles when they are not in use and at the same time interconnect the tips to prevent a partially completed workpiece on the needles from slipping off the needles.

The manner in which the foregoing objects are achieved, together with various more specific objects and features of the invention, will be explained by describing in detail a knitting needle embodying certain preferred forms of the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view illustrating one form of knitting needle in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a detailed view partly in section showing the manner in which the ends of the needle (y-shown in Fig. 1 are interconnected;

Fig. 3 is a detailed view of one end of the needle shown in Fig. 1 with a knitting tip attached;

Fig. 4 is a detailed view showing the other end of the knitting needle shown in Fig. 1 with a de- 35"-tachable tip removed therefrom;

Fig. 5 is a side view of a detachable tip for use with the needle shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a detailed viewpartly in section showing the manner of joinder of the detachable tips toto the needle;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing the parts in position for removal or attachment of the tip;

Fig. 8 is a detailed cross section taken in the 45 plane VIIIVIII of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 9 is a side view of the end of the tip shown in Fig. 3, the view being taken at right angles to the view of Fig. 3.

Although my invention is also applicable to 50 ordinary straight knitting needles, it is illustrated in connection with what is known as the band or hoop type needle. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, such needles consist of a pair of rigid end members I and 2, respectively, interconnected by 55 a flexible cable 3, the length of which may be adapted to the particular work in hand. Needles of this type are employed for knitting tubular garments such as skirts.

, The cable portion 3 may be conventional con- 60 struction, consisting of resilient wire such as Another object is to provide a. knitting needle piano wirecoiled about a central core and the ends joined by welding, soldering or any other desired manner to the rear ends of the rigid end sections I and 2, the latter being constructed of solid steel, brass or other relatively stiff metal. Each of the end members I and 2 may be identical and their construction will beexplained by describing the end member 2 with reference to Figs. 4, 6, 7 and 8. v

The tip 2 comprises a main or shank portion 4 and a plug section 5 (hereinafter referred to merely as the plug") at the outer end of the shank portion 4, the latter connecting at its rear end to the flexible cable 3. Although the plug and shank will be referred to as separate elements, it is to be understood that they may constitute one continuous piece as shown in the drawing. The shank portion 4 may be bent as indicated at 6 to facilitate retention of the end portion 2 in a desired position with the extreme tip I of the plug 5 deflected upwardly as shown. It will be understood, of course, that the weight of the cable 3 and particularly the weight of knitting supported thereon will tend to pull it downwardly whereas the end portions l and 2 are supported in the hands of the operator. The plug 5, although being a smooth continuation of the shank portion 4 of the member 2, is preferably tapered toward the tip and flattened adjacent the tip, as shown in Fig. 8.

In some types of knitting this plug 5 of the endmember 2 may be employed to advantage as the knitting point, the upwardly titled tip I functioning to retain the stitches thereon and prevent them from accidentally slipping ofi the end.

However, it is often desirable to employ knittingtips of difierent shapes and sizes and to this end I provide detachable tips,-one of which is shown in Fig. 5, which can be secured to the ends I and 2. The detachable tip 8 shown in Fig. 5 is a substantially straight member similar to the tips of conventional knitting needles except that it is provided with an eye 9 therein. This is convenient since it permits the use of the tip 8 as a bodkin to draw a thread through the knitting if the needle is to be removed from the work for any reason and then permits ready replacement of the needle through the stitches by pulling the needle through the stitches with the thread looped through the eye 9.

The tip 8 is made hollow at one end whereby it constitutes a socket adapted to slip over and vbe retained by the plug 5. Thus as shown in Fig. 6 therecess or passage [0 in the end of the tip 8 is substantially the same length as the plug 5 of the end member 2 so that it receives the plug.

.Thepassage i0 is slightly larger in lateral dimensions than the plug 5 but is substantially straight longitudinally whereas the plug is slightly bowed longitudinally. As a result, when the plug is inserted into the socket section, the tip 1 contacts the wall of the socket on one side and the rear end of the plug section likewise contacts the wall of the socket on the same side adjacent the orifice of the socket, the opposite side of the plug section bearing against the ppos'ite wall of the socket at a point I! intermediate the ends of the plug. The plug is made of relatively stiff resilient material such as piano wire and it is found that as a result of the threepoint engagement between the plug and sleeve the socket is supported firmly on the.plug and can be removed therefrom only with great diiiiculty in response to straight longitudinal forces applied thereto. However, by slightly flexing the plug 5 by applying lateral forces to the plug and tip at the points and in the directions indicated by the arrows I3-l3 and ll-il in Fig. 'I, it is found that the tip may be placed on or removed from the plug very easily.

To prevent relative rotation between the tip 8 and the plug 5, the latter is preferably flattened adjacent its outer end as previously mentioned and the tubular portion of the tip 8 is likewise flattened at a pointjuxtaposed to the flattened portion of the plug when the latter is fully inserted to prevent relative rotation.

The lateral or bending forces necessary to release the tip from the plug, as illustrated in Fig. '7, may be readily applied by grasping the tip 8 in one hand and the end portion 2 in the other hand with the fingers looped over the tops of the elements to apply forces at the points indicated by the arrows M-ll, and the thumbs applied adjacent the juncture at the points indicated by the arrows i3l3, and then pressing upwardly with the thumbs and pulling downwardly with the fingers. At the same time the hands are then moved apart, pulling the plug and the tip member apart.

It is to be understood that although the detachable tip structure has been described in detail with reference to the particular tip shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, various types of tips may be employed. Thus as shown in Fig. 3 a hooked tip l5 somewhat similar to a crochet hook may be employed on one end of the needle and secured to the end member I of the needle in exactly the same manner illustrated in connection with the tip 8. Where a hooked tip of the type illustrated in Fig. 3 is employed on one end of the needle, it is usually desirable that the other end be straight or in the form of the .bare plug 5 as shown in Fig. 4. However, during a knitting process it is often necessary to reverse the tips and this may be done with the needle described by simply pulling the tip l5 away from the end member I and attaching it to the end member 2, without removing the needles from the workpiece.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the tip i5 and the plug 5 are shown interconnected by a sleeve I! which is dimensioned to enclose the tip members as shown in Fig. 2 with suillcient friction to retain them in engagement. By slipping the ends of the needle into the sleeve I! as shown, at the end of a knitting period, the partially completed workpiece on the needle can be positively prevented from escaping and at the same time the tips of the needles are-shielded to prevent injury to anyone handling them and to prevent the points from becoming entangled with the work.

It is to be understood that various and numerous modifications can be made in the particular structures illustrated and described and that the invention is to be limited only as set forth in the appended claims. It is to be understood especially that the detachable tip construction illustrated may be employed on separate straight knitting needles as well as on a double-ended knitting needle of the band or hoop type as illustrated.

I claim:

1. A knitting needle comprising a body portion terminating in a resilient plug and a removable tip consisting of a socket member having a passage extending thereinto from one end, said socket member being adapted to slip over said plug, in which said plug is of smaller lateral dimensions than said passage and is curved lon gitudinally out-of alignment with the passage, whereby when positioned in the passage it is distorted from normal shape and bears against one side of the passage at a point intermediate the ends of the latter and against the opposite side of the passage at points adjacent the opposite ends thereof.

2. A knitting needle comprising a body portion terminating. in a resilient plug and a removable tip consisting of a socket member having a passage extending thereinto from one end, said socket member being adapted to slip over said plug, in which said plug is of smaller lateral dimensions than said passage and is curved longitudinally out of alignment with the passage, whereby when positioned in the passage it is distorted from normal shape and bears against one side of the passage at a point intermediate the ends of the latter and against the opposite side of the passage at points adjacent the opposite ends thereof, juxtaposed portions of said tip -and plug being flattened whereby relative rotation between the parts is prevented.

3. A knitting needle comprising a body portion terminating in a resilient plug and a removable tip consisting of a socket member having a passage extending thereinto from one end, said socket member being adapted to slip over said plug, in which said plug is of smaller lateral dimensions than said passage and is curved longitudinally out of alignment with the passage, the curvature of the plug increasing toward the outer end of the latter, whereby when positioned in the passage it is distorted from normal shape and bears against one side ofthe passage at a point intermediate the ends of the latter and against the opposite side of the passage at points adjacent the opposite ends thereof.

4. A knitting needle comprising a body portion terminating in a resilient plug and a removable tip consisting of a socket member having a passage extending thereinto from one end, said socket member being adapted to slip over said plug, in which said plug is of smaller lateral dimensions than said passage and is curved longitudinally out of alignment with the passage, whereby when positioned in the passage it is distorted from normal shape and bears against one side of the passage at a point intermediate the ends of the latter and against the opposite side of the passage at points adjacent the opposite ends thereof, said plug being flattened at its mid and outer end portions and said tip being flattened at the mid section of the socket portion thereof whereby relative rotation between the parts is prevented.

E'IHEL W. BURNHAM. 

